So thanks to WizKids’ torrent of releases in 2012, my stable of unplayed figures has grown from the smallest of my cases to a lot of six leftover clamshells from Fast Forces and starter sets.

So I’ve adjusted the way I judge my venue now. Instead of building a single team for playing the bye round or just sitting/standing around during the tournament, I’m building FOUR teams for the event and either playing three of them (a different one each round) or I’ll do a solo game against myself if there is no bye round.

The latter is how it fell out this past weekend. The scenario was a 400-point “Valentines Only” game in which only figures with a romantic history were allowed. Here were my teams:

Marvel Girl (10th Anniversary) 54
Cyclops (Fast Forces) 75
Storm 59 (10th Anniversary) 
Rookie Black Panther (Infinity Challenge) 27
Lyja the Lazerfist 80
Human Torch (Fantastic Four) 100
vs.
Oracle (Fast Forces) 50
Nightwing (Batman primer) 85
Dove (Fast Forces) 100
Hawk (Fast Forces) 100
Movie Star (Infinity Challenge) 3
Bruce Wayne (Batman) 60

and

Aquaman (Justice League New 52) 111
Mera (Crisis) 6
Bruce Wayne (Batman primer) 50
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20
August General In Iron (Batman) 142
Ghost Fox Killer 68
vs.
Green Lantern (10th Anniversary) 145
Star Sapphire (Fast Forces) 75
Joker (Batman primer) 125
Harley Quinn (Batman) 50

And here’s my experience with each unplayed piece:

August General In Iron fell victim to missed attacks, including the snake-eyed variety. Not really his fault, though, and he survived to the end of the game. Will definitely play him again because I’m a Great Ten fan, but he’s not the obvious choice over his 100-point precursor from 2007’s Justice League set.

Bruce Wayne (Batman primer) was super-useful for TK and Perplex. Will play him next on a “BRUUUCE” team for sure.

Bruce Wayne (Batman), on the other hand, was somewhat high-priced filler on his team. Still, Perplex for friends is never useless. Another lock for the “BRUUUCE” team.

Cyclops (Fast Forces) wasn’t bad. He comprised most of the effective offense for his team thanks to Running Shot + Willpower. But he really pales in comparison with the 110-pt. GSX model. Guess I’ll grab him as a bargain version if necessary — if I even keep the piece.

Dove (Fast Forces) was mostly useful for Prob and her synergy with partner Hawk. I’ll always pick the main set version over her, though.

Green Lantern (10th Anniversary) was better than I expected — that Barrier trait came in handy. He never fell off click #1. There are so many versions of Hal I can’t say this will be the first I consider, due to his expense, though.

Harley Quinn (Batman) Joker’s lil’ gal was OK, basically serving just as a trigger for his revenge trait.

Hawk (Fast Forces) IS the one I’ll be playing from now on; he’s the main reason I decided to go ahead and buy the Fast Forces. I like him SO much better than the main set Hawk (who I don’t even HAVE anymore). One-shotted Black Panther and survived to game’s end despite taking a fair amount of fire.

Joker (Batman primer) works better than the main set Joker. But I really need to be careful when playing him with a Harley. Using that trait got him away from any Mastermind fodder and, consequently, killed by Aquaman.

Lyja the Lazerfist was there to make Human Torch viable, and vice versa. But overall, I was unimpressed. There’s a reason she’s sat unplayed in my box for nearly a year.

Marvel Girl (10th Anniversary), you’ll recall, was the worst of 2012 in my reckoning. But TK is never useless. That’s all I can say. She’s gettin’ traded ASAP.

Nightwing (Batman primer) was a blunder to play, being a piece with starting Enhancement on a team with 0 zero besides him. Still, he has enough talents to have served as the other offensive engine of the team.

Oracle (Fast Forces) of course got that engine going with her piece-moving ability. She didn’t contribute any more than that. I kinda played her close to the action, being willing to use her as a decoy. But I didn’t take the bait due to her Stealth and Shape Change and the presence of other, more threatening targets. I imagine that can work out either way: lose 50 points and her mobilizing factor but leave the fighters still free to punish you (especially since at that point, they probably won’t need Oracle so much any more) or focus on the fighters while she continues putting pieces in place. Devil’s choice, and why she’ll come out the box more than once.

Star Sapphire (Fast Forces) did a similar thing in her game, keeping Aquaman and Green Lantern from fighting each other. But with Aquaman being a melee piece and thus unable to threaten GL, it served more to keep GL from shooting Aquaman, leaving the Sea King free to wreak mad havoc with my teammates. Despite Sapphire’s taxi skills and sniping powers,  I don’t think I’ll run her again.

Storm 59 (10th Anniversary) is every bit as effective as her 40-point Danger Room predeccessor. She landed one of her team’s only major shots. A good bargain Storm for the points…but one I’ll ONLY reach for if I’m short on points and need a Storm.

____

Check back on F.U.N. Friday for the 2nd half of Figure Flush Week One. And more Token Totin’ on Thursday.